


At the School gate

by Miss_read



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy and bucky have a child, F/M, Fluff, Kid Fic, but have split up, but if enough people like it I'll add more chapters, kinda sad at the start, this may just be a one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 04:37:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2335604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_read/pseuds/Miss_read
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He loves her. She loves him. They love their daughter. But sometimes things get in the way.<br/>There's nothing in the way, and it takes a 5 year old to show them that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This may just be a one shot I haven't decided yet, let me know if you guys think it should be a multi-chapter thing.

Thursday afternoon, Darcy waits outside the school gates with the other parents, not making eye contact with any of them because that would lead to conversation which would lead to them guilting her into doing some fun-run or become part of the PTA and that would suck.

The bell rang and children began pouring out of the doors wrapped in their brightly coloured jackets and hats with backpacks almost half the size of them. Darcy spotted little Natalia running as fast as her tiny legs could carry her in her purple puffy jacket and orange bobble hat.  
“Mommy!” She called holding her arms up ready for Darcy’s embrace.  
Darcy caught her 5 year old daughter and swung her into the air and onto her hip “Hey Meatball,” She grinned “How was school?”  
“It was good. I drew a picture of you and Daddy. Can we show it to him?” Natalia beamed, her sea green eyes shining bright just like her fathers.  
Darcy forced her smile to stay in place “Why don’t you show him tomorrow when he picks you up, okay?”  
The infants face dimmed “But I want to show him now.” She pouted  
“We can send him a picture, then you can show him tomorrow.” Darcy sighed as she walked out towards their car “C’mon, we’re going to get take-out and watch frozen. Sound good?”  
“Will you sing the songs with me?” Natalia asked hopefully.  
Darcy nodded as she slipped Nat into her carseat “I will, I promise.”

 

That night, once they were both full of Chinese food and Disney music and Darcy had emailed a picture of Natalia’s drawing to Bucky with no text and no subject line, just the picture, Darcy tucked her daughter into bed.  
“Mommy, can I ask you something?” Natalia said softly, one arm curled around her Captain America plush doll.  
“Sure thing, sweetheart. What’s on your mind?” Darcy smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed.  
“Why don’t you and Daddy live together?” She asked, hiding her face in the toy.  
Darcy sighed, she had expected this question would come up at some point, but that didn’t mean she was prepared.

 

Darcy would be the first to admit that she was, and always will be, head over heels in love with James Buchanan Barnes from the moment he first made her laugh.  
It was hard, of course, to get him rehabilitated after the events with HYDRA but she helped him through it.  
They were happy, no doubt about it. They lived together, spent most their time together when he wasn’t on missions and the sex...The sex was mind blowing.  
But then, after 2 years together, Darcy got pregnant and made it very clear that she wanted to keep the baby whether he wanted it or not and if he didn’t then he would just have to leave her.  
And as far as Darcy knew, he wanted the baby, he just didn’t want the baby with her.

That was wrong, of course, But that’s all that Darcy knew.  
So that left her looking after little Natalia Monday to Thursday and letting Bucky pick her up from school on the friday to look after her for the weekend. Every so often they switched over for a few weeks at a time.  
This way, Darcy never had to deal with seeing him because it hurt too much. 

 

“Natalia, your Daddy and I don’t live together because we aren’t a couple.” Darcy said slowly, taking Natalia’s tiny hand in her own.  
“But you’re still married, right?” Natalia added.  
“Nope, not married either.” She shook her head  
“Do you love Daddy?” The child pressed, despite how upset it seemed to be making her Mom.  
Darcy sighed and nodded “Yes, I do. I love your Daddy very much.”  
“Then why aren’t you a couple? When you love somebody you live with them.” A confused look took over Natalia’s face.  
Darcy smoothed down her daughters soft brown hair “Because your Daddy doesn’t love me.”  
“Were you a couple before?” Nat frowned.  
“Yes, we were.”  
“Did he love you then?”  
“Yes, he did.”  
“What happened? Was it because I was born?”

Darcy paused at that “Not really, baby. Buc-your Daddy didn’t love me enough to stay with me when I was pregnant with you, so he stopped loving me.” She figured it was pretty grim stuff to be telling a 5 year old, but Darcy didn’t want to be accused of lying when Natalia was old enough to understand.  
Nat deflated a little and she looked up at her mother with watery eyes “Will Daddy stop love me?”  
“No! No of course not, sweetie.” Darcy leant down and pulled her daughter into a hug “Your Daddy will always love you, I promise. We both love you so much, no matter what.”  
Natalia crawled onto Darcy’s lap and curled against her “I’ll never stop loving you, mommy.”  
Darcy smiled a little and held Nat close “I know, Natalia. Get some sleep.”

 

******  
Friday afternoon, Bucky waits at the school gates with his hands buried in the pockets of his leather jacket as he actively tried to ignore the beckoning waves of the mothers who are clearly looking for some sort of boy toy.

The bell rings and he can see Natalia right away, but it would be hard to miss her in the orange traffic cone of a hat he bought her so he could never lose track of her. She darts towards him with a wide grin that feels like an arrow through his heart because its _just like Darcy’s_.

Natalia flung herself into his arms and he catched her in a hug.  
“Missed you, Daddy.” She mumbled into his shoulder, clinging on to him.  
“Missed you too, princess.” Bucky smiled and held her for a few moments before pulled back to look at her “I saw that picture you drew, it’s great.”  
Natalia beamed under the praise “I used a silver glitter pen for your arm!” she announced proudly.  
“I could tell. C’mon, let’s get you home.” He said as he carried her to the subway.

 

After an evening of watching the Lion King and eating spaghetti, Natalia insisted on the two of them making a blanket tent and sleeping in it for the night. Bucky did as he was told, making a rather formidable blanket tent and padded the floor with every pillow in the house before wrapping Natalia in her Captain America quilt and lying down next to her.

“Daddy?” Natalia whispered  
“Natalia?” Bucky whispered back teasingly.  
“Why did you stop loving Mommy?” She asked.

All levity left Bucky’s body and he got a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach.  
“Why would you think that?” he asked before swallowing thickly to try and keep his voice steady.  
“Mommy said so. She said you stopped loving her before I was born.” Natalia explained.

What Darcy didn’t know was how much it killed Bucky to leave her.  
He was so crazy about her, but he knew that if he stayed with her and the baby he’d have to marry her, and he just wasn’t good enough to be her husband. Darcy deserved so much more than he could give her, so he left.

“What else did Mommy say?” Bucky turned to lie on his side, facing her.  
Natalia did the same “She said that she loves me and you love me, and she loves you but you don’t love her.” She babbled.  
He raised his eyebrows “She loves me?”  
“mhhm.” Natalia nodded “She said she loves you very much even though you aren’t a couple. And she got really sad when she said that you don’t love her.”  
“But I do love her.” Bucky said, feeling strange having said it out loud for so long.  
“Really?!” Natalia exclaimed, sitting upright with wide eyes “You have to tell her, Daddy! You just have to!”  
Bucky shook his head “It doesn’t work like that, sweetheart.”

He hadn’t seen Darcy in almost a year, and hadn’t spoken to her in twice as long. Even before that they barely said two words to each other unless they really had to.  
What really bothered him, though, was that he hadn’t seen her smile in over 3 years.  
She used to smile all the time, and there would be this one smile that she’d save just for him. Whenever he made her laugh, or told her he loved her, or held her close she’d give him that beautiful smile that lit up her whole face and made him feel like he was home.  
Darcy must still be smiling, but she wasn’t smiling for him.

“Why not, Daddy?” Natalia frowned.  
“You’re mommy wouldn’t be happy with me.” Bucky sighed, rolling onto his back again.  
“She misses you, I know she does.” The girl urged “She still has your picture in her purse, right next to mine. And you have that picture of her in your room.”

Bucky thought for a moment. He had thought for the past 5 years that Darcy hated him because she had every right to. But if a small part of her still loved him, then there was still hope. Hope for what, he didn’t know, but there was hope.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning, princess. Go to sleep.” Bucky kissed the top of Natalia’s head.  
“Okay, Daddy. Sweet Dreams.” She smiled and curled against him.

 

*****

Saturday Morning, Bucky had hardly slept. All he could think about the night before was Darcy and why on earth she would still love him after what he did to her.

Natalia woke up craving pancakes in the shape of stars like the one on Steve’s shield, so Bucky set to that.  
“What do you want to do today?” He asked as he mixed the pancake batter.  
“I want to spend the day with uncle Steve.” She declared from her spot on the kitchen counter, her legs swinging a little.  
“Okay, where shall we go?” Bucky nodded and poured the batter into the pan.  
“No, I want to go to the movies with just Steve.” Natalia said firmly.  
“But Nat-”  
“I’ll go to the movies with Steve and you go to tell Mommy that you love her.” 

Bucky sighed and nodded as he flipped a pancake onto a plate. He turned the stove off and stood in front of Natalia, taking her hands in his.  
“I want you to know that this may not work out the way you want it to.” He said softly “I may love your mommy and she may love me, but sometimes other things get in the way and it just doesn’t work out.”  
“I know, Daddy.” She smiled “I just want to make you and Mommy happy, and I think this might work.”  
Bucky kissed the top of her head “You know I’ll always love you, right?”  
“Yup.” Natalia nodded almost proudly.

****

Saturday afternoon, Bucky is standing outside Darcy’s apartment trying to will up the courage to knock on the door. He paces a little bit, trying to figure out what the hell he’s going to say for a good 5 minutes. He runs a hand through his hair and sighs, just about ready to walk away when the door opens.

“How long were you planning on waiting outside my door before you actually knocked?” Darcy said with a raised eyebrow.  
Bucky’s mouth went dry as he looks at her. She’s barely aged, still the most gorgeous thing to walk this earth, but she isn’t smiling.  
Darcy’s eyes scan him and she knows why all the moms at school have been shooting sideways glances at her with whispers of ‘I just don’t understand how she let him go’ because looking at him, she didn’t understand either. He’s wearing a leather jacket that would make her melt if she wasn’t building a wall over the part of her brain that loved him, which was an extremely large part.

“I was bankin’ on another half hour.” The corner of his mouth twitched up in a small smirk.  
Darcy’s face didn’t change, she just crossed her arms over her chest and leant against the doorframe. “What are you doing here, James?”  
Bucky let out a surprised laugh “No way, you are not calling me ‘James’. I don’t care how you feel about me but you’ve got to admit that was the most unnatural thing you’ve ever done.”

Darcy doesn’t say anything because he’s right.  
“C’mon, doll, crack a smile.” He said smoothly, oozing his classic Brooklyn boy charm.  
“Where’s Natalia?” She replied flatly.  
“She’s with Steve.” Bucky explained.  
“Which brings us back to; what are you doing here?” Darcy sighed a little. It hurt just seeing him, let alone shooting down his advanced.  
“I came to see you.” He smiled, digging his hands in his pockets.  
Darcy groaned “Look, I don’t know what Natalia’s told you but-”  
“I still love you.” Bucky cut her off quickly.

They were both silent for what seemed like an eternity, Bucky waiting expectantly and Darcy with her mouth open.  
When he finally couldn’t stand it anymore, Bucky took a step towards her.  
“And I know you still love me too,” His voice was low and it sank to her very core “I don’t expect you to forgive me for leaving you, but it was only because I didn’t think I was good enough to marry you then.” He carried on walking towards her until he had crowded her space and she was pressed against the doorframe “And I don’t know if I’m good enough now, all I know is that I’m too damn selfish to not have you all to myself.”

Darcy’s chest heaved with each breath as she looked up at him through her eyelashes.  
“You broke my heart.” She breathed.  
“I know, and I’m so, so sorry about that, Doll.” He leant down and cupped her face “Everyday I wake up and I wish I could see you next to me.”  
“Just so you know, if you break my heart again I won’t hold Thor back, or Steve.” Darcy smiled. _His smile._  
Bucky could have melted “I wont hurt you anymore, I promise. You’re not getting rid of me this time.” He chuckled.  
“Wouldn’t want to, Jerk.” She grinned before pulling him down to crash her lips against his and suddenly they were back to six years ago when they just couldn’t get enough of each other.


	2. The Missing piece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're back where they belong, but where do they go from here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be another chapter to wrap everything up after this one, but this could be a pretty good end to it I guess.

They spend the rest of the day in bed, trying to make up for lost time.  
“What do we do now?” Darcy asked softly at about 3 in the afternoon as Bucky’s fingers drew light patterns on her thigh.  
“I was thinking that we should take a nap.” He hummed in response, kissing along her jaw.  
“I mean what do we do now about us? We can’t go back to the start, we have a kid.” She sighed. “But we can’t just magically get together, we live in different places.”  
“Come live with me.” Bucky grinned, his hands moving up to hold her by her hips and roll them over so she was straddling his waist.  
“Don’t be an idiot, Bucky. I can’t just move in with you. We’ve barely spoken for 5 years.” She poked his chest lightly.  
“I want to go back to how it was, Darce. You and me, and Natalia too.” his hands skimmed up her sides and back down again “I’m crazy about you. And we both know that we’re not like other couples”

Darcy thought for a moment. She had spent so many nights wishing that they could go back to how they were, even though she wouldn’t give Natalia up for the whole world. And now Bucky was offering her both. 

“Nat will be so confused.” She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face.  
Bucky chuckled “Believe it or not, this was all her idea.” He sat up, keeping her on his lap “I think she’ll be pretty quick to accept it.”  
Darcy laughed softly “I believe that.”   
“Now, how about that nap?” Bucky raised an eyebrow with a charming grin.   
“Don’t we have to pick up Natalia?” She frowned a little.  
Bucky shook his head and pulled her back down to lie on the bed next to him “She’s with Steve, you know he’s probably busy spoiling her rotten, we’ve got plenty of time.”  
Darcy hummed in response and closed her eyes, curling into Bucky and slowly falling asleep.

***

Darcy wakes at 6.35pm, pleased to find herself still wrapped in Bucky’s arms. After glancing at the clock she decided that it was time to get up and collect her daughter, despite the fact that she was probably having the time of her life with Steve.

She slipped out of Bucky’s grasp and began to pull on her jeans and her shirt before heading out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee so she’d be more awake and ready to face the task of explaining to her daughter that she was getting back together with Bucky.

Darcy took this as a chance to look around her own apartment. It was tiny, just enough for her and Natalia to live happily. Rent was low, but so was the water pressure. Moving in with Bucky would work out just fine as long as he didn’t leave her again.

The sound of the bedroom door opening bought her from her train of thought into reality, and what a wonderful reality it was.   
Bucky stood in the doorway, shirtless with his jeans undone and hanging low on his hips looking like God’s greatest gift to mankind. 

“I thought you’d left.” He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.  
“This is my apartment.” She pointed out.  
“That was my second thought. Should I call Steve?” Bucky asked as he padded towards her.  
“Yeah, let Natalia know I’ll be coming to pick her up in about half an hour.” Darcy nodded and poured her coffee into the mug and adding sugar “You want some coffee?”   
“Yeah, you tired me out there, Doll.” He smirked a little and took her mug from her, sipping at the hot liquid before grimacing “You still take your coffee with too much sugar.”  
“Maybe I do that so you won’t drink it.” Darcy quipped.

Then, Bucky’s hands are on her waist, coffee forgotten as he pulls her close until they’re chest to chest “Wrong, it’s because you drank black coffee from a really young age because your Mom always forgot to buy milk, but when you started making enough money to move out and buy your own stuff, you wanted to try coffee with milk a sugar. And you figured the more sugar, the better.” He smiled cockily.

Darcy blinked “How do you remember all that?”   
“Never forgot, Darlin’” Bucky responded, nuzzling into her neck.  
“I missed you.” She confessed after a beat of thought.  
“I missed you too. Haven’t felt this way since I left.” He hummed.   
“Felt what way?”   
“Complete.” 

Darcy relaxed into his arms. He was right, of course. She felt it too, the missing piece in everything was now in it’s correct position when she was in Bucky’s arms.  
“How are we going to tell he?” She murmured.   
“We just say it. She’s a smart girl.” Bucky shrugged.

****  
Steve is sitting at the table with Natalia drawing when there’s a knock at the door.   
When he had heard from Natalia about Bucky and Darcy still being in love, he was over the moon. It had been hell seeing them unhappy without each other, and he had lost Darcy as a friend.

A wide grin spread across the super soldiers face when he opened the door to find them standing there, hand in hand.   
“Well, it’s about damn time.” He chuckled.  
Bucky rolled his eyes “Don’t look too happy, we still have to explain it to Natalia.”

“Daddy?” Natalia called and ran to the door “I thought Mommy was picking me up..” Her eyes widened when she reached the door and saw the both of them “Mommy! You’re here!”  
“Hey sweetheart!” Darcy grinned, dropping Bucky’s hand to catch her daughter as she flung herself into her arms.  
Natalia look between her parents with wide eyes, it being the first time in years that she’d seen the two of them in the same place.  
“Did you tell her?” She asked her dad, who nodded with a smile.  
“Sure did.” Bucky said proudly.  
Natalia’s faced Darcy “What did you say?”  
“I said the same back.” She smiled

Natalia squealed in delight and buried her face in Darcy’s neck “This is the best day ever!”  
Darcy laughed softly and held her daughter close “And we’re going to be moving in with Daddy too.”  
Steve tilted his head to the side “Don’t you think that’s a little fast?” He asked “You just got back together.”  
“C’mon, man. You more than anybody’ll know how much I need her.” Bucky shrugged.

Natalia looked up with a wide grin “Yay! I like Daddy’s house more than Mom’s.”  
Darcy gasped in mock offence “Do you like Daddy more than me?”  
“No!” the girl laughed and shook her head “I like you both the same.”  
“Good, because now we’ll both be around.” Bucky smiled and kissed his daughter’s forehead.

They thanks Steve for watching her before heading down to Darcy’s care where they strapped Nat into her carseat and Bucky slid in the passengers next to Darcy.  
“Where are we going?” Natalia asked excitedly.   
Darcy looked over at the father of her child and grinned, placing her hand over his “Home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always happy to take requests too! If you want a fic written let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.   
> Thank you all for your sweet comments and Kudos!


End file.
